Street-car curtain



'(No Model.)

J. KILGOUR. STREET GAR CURTAIN.

No. 543,098. Patented July 23, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN KILGOUR, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

STREET-CAR CURTAIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 543,098, dated July 23, 1895.

Application filed January 10, 1895. Serial No. 534,467. (No model-Z To all whom it may concern.

engage it from the vertical guides.

Be it known that I, JOHN KILGOUR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Street-Car Curtains; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, which form part of this specification.

In a certain class of street-cars, to be used exclusively during the summer seasons, the seats are arranged transversely to enable passengers to get on or off at either side, and the aisles between such seats are guarded at their ends with flexible curtains or screens that exclude rain and sunshine. These curtains are coiled around elevated spring-rollers, and the opposite margins of said curtains traverse vertical guides or grooves in standards that support the carroof, horizontal slats or rods being secured to the curtains for the purpose of keeping them in a proper condition to travel up and down within said grooves; but it frequently happens that passengers grasp one end of a bottom slat, pull the curtain down obliquely, and thereby disquently, when the curtain is released the coiled spring instantly jerks it up on the outside of the standards, the result being to jam the curtain very tightly at the top of the car, from whence it must be pulled down and reinserted within the grooves.

The object of my invention is toovercome these difficulties and compel the curtain'to complete its ascent within the grooves, no matter how carelessly it may be operated. This result is accomplished by the arrangement of devices seen in the annexed drawings, in which-F Figure l is aside elevation of a portion of a street-car provided with my improvements, three curtains of the same being shown in as many different positions. ,Fig. 2 is a detail view showing a curtain in the act of ascending a grooved guide in the usual way. Fig. 3 is a similar view, but showing a curtain in the act of being deflected from the outside of the car and conducted into the regular guide. Fig. 4 isa modification of the invention. Fig.

Conse-' another modification.

Arepresents a portion of a street or observation car. B B are two transverse seats of the same, and C is an aisle or gangway between the seats, which aisle enablespassengers to get on or oif at either side of the vehicle.

D D are vertical posts or standards, usually attached to the ends of the seats and provided with longitudinal grooves E E, that serve as guides or runways for the margins of screens or curtains F F F". These screens or ourtains are made of thick canvas or other suitable flexible material, and their upper ends are secured to spring-rollers, capable of automatically coiling said curtains around them as soon as the latter areproperly released. Furthermore, these curtains are stretched from side to side, so as to snugly fit within the grooves E E, by a number of hori zontal slats or rods, of which the lower ones are indicated atff'f".

The outer wall of each guiding-groove is cut away, as seen in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, to afford a lateral passage e of such a capacity as to readily admit the widest curtain-slat. Applied over the entrance of this passage is a curved plate or bar G that serves as a chute or deflector, the lower edge of said plate being, usually, somewhat below said passage.

H is a'small plate at the lower side of said passage 6, the top of which plate is ridgeshaped, so as toofier the least possible resistance to the curtain as it travels up and down.

7 5 is a horizontal section thereof. Fig. 6 is When the curtains are completely down,

as seen at F in Fig.1, they exclude sunshine and rain, and it properly operated will travel along the grooves E without being interfered with by the side passage e and chute G; but if the curtains should be improperly manipulatedand the lower slat drawn out of said grooves, as seen at f, it is evident said slat willslide up on the outside of the standards D D the instant the coiled spring is permitted to exercise its force. This slat, however, can travel up only as far as the chutes G will allow, and as soon as contact is made with these deflecting devices the margins of the curtain are drawn into the main groove E, and then the curtain completes its ascent within said groove in the usual manner. It will thus be seen that the simple provision of the lateral passage e and chute G prevents the curtain running up and becoming jammed on the outside of the standards D D or other frame.

lhe above is a description of the preferred form of my invention; but the details thereof may be varied to suit circumstances-as, for example, in Fig. 1 a single chute G G is used for each of the grooves E E of standard D; but the plate G, attached to the other standard D, has a pair of chutes gg cast with it, and is further provided with an integral handle I, to be grasped by passengers in getting on the car.

Another modification is seen in Figs. 4 and 5, where a cast chute G" is adapted to be let into a mortise of the standard, and has an integral lateral lug g, rounded on its upper edge and adapted to take the place of the plate I-I. (Seen in Figs. 2 and 3.)

Still another modification is seen in Fig. 6, where a chute G has a pair of rollers g"g journaled in it to facilitate the movements of the curtain. Again, the lateral passage e and chute G may be located on the inner surface of the standards, if preferred; but as the seats and other interior arrangements of the car almost compel the curtains to be forced outwardly there is little need for such a duplication of said devices. Finally, these devices 8 G may be employed with curtains or screens adapted to be raised and lowered by hand in any ordinary grooved frame, as the curtain and the spring-roller that operates it constitute no part of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. A curtain-frame consisting of a pair of posts D, D, having longitudinal grooves E, E, in their opposing faces; alateral passage 6, in the external wall of each groove; and chutes G, having ascending passages with inlets at bottom, which chutes are secured to the outer sides of said posts, and above said lateral passages e, for the purpose described.

2. The combination, in an open car, of a pair of posts D, D, having longitudinal grooves E, E, in their opposing faces; a lateral passage e, in the external wall of each groove; chutes G having ascending passages with inlets at bottom, which chutes are secured'to the outer sides of said posts, and above said lateral passages e; and a flexible curtain or screen F, whose free edges traverse said chutes, passages and grooves, in the manner described, and for the purpose stated.

3. As a new article of manufacture, the curtain-ehutc G, having an ascending passage with an inlet at bottom, and an outlet at rear, and provided with an integral lateral lug g, at the back of said inlet, all as herein described, and for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN KILGOUR. Witnesses:

JAMES H. LAYMAN, ARTHUR Moons. 

